1. Field
An air guide for an air conditioner is disclosed herein.
2. Background
An air conditioner is a home appliance which maintains indoor air in an optimal state according to intended uses and purposes thereof. The air conditioner may include an indoor unit and an outside unit. The air conditioner may be a separated type air conditioner in which an indoor unit and an outside unit are separated from each other, or an integrated type air conditioner in which the indoor unit and the outside unit are integrated in one unit.
The air conditioner drives a refrigeration cycle. The refrigeration cycle generally includes a compressor to compress a refrigerant, a condenser to condense the compressed refrigerant, an expander to expands the condensed refrigerant, and an evaporator to evaporate the expanded refrigerant.
The outside unit may include the compressor, an outside heat exchanger, and a plurality of electronic components. The electronic components control the refrigeration cycle. The electronic components may include a component which generates a lot of heat. When such component is not operated at an operable temperature, the refrigeration cycle is inefficiently driven, or the air conditioner may be damaged.
Korean Patent Application No. 10-2000-0019054, titled “Air Guide Device of Air Conditioner,” which is incorporated herein by references, discloses a conventional method and configuration in which some of the air flowing inside of the outside unit may pass through a space where the electronic components are arranged. The electronic components are cooled by the air that passes by them. However, according to such configuration, when the outside unit is installed at an outside space, and exposed to moisture such as snow and rain, the moisture may be introduced into the outdoor unit along with external air introduced into a heat exchanger. Also, when the air conditioner performs a cooling operation, condensate water may be generated in the outside unit due to heat exchange. Therefore, when the water permeates into an installation space of the electronic components, the electronic components may be damaged and/or cause a fire due to a short circuit.
Accordingly, to satisfy at least the above described problems of the conventional configuration, an air path should be disposed in the outside unit such that the air is smoothly circulated to the electronic components so as to cool the electronic components, and water should be prevented from permeating into the air path. In other words, a structure that provides the path having a flow speed over a certain level and also prevents water from permeating into an electronic component chamber, is required.